Sunday, June 14, 2009

Physics Is Beauty

Physics is worth knowing because it is beautiful. It is the hidden secret of the scientist. We may claim to be researching some topic or other because it is "useful to society" or it will revolutionize some technology but, more often than not, we are simply fascinated by some small detail about how the world works and we can't stop thinking about it until we understand it better. We are constantly astounded by the way a few basic principles work together to explain so many different things, and sit in wonder and awe at the beauty of the world. Like an artist, I want to share this beauty with others. I want them to know what it is to see through my eyes.

Unlike crackpots, who continue to make grandiose claims of finding the "theory of everything" and solving the question of the universe, the overwhelming majority of physicists really do not have such pretentious goal. We tend to want to solve a particular problem, or work in a particular area, because these are the ones that peaked our curiosity, and we want to find the answer to their questions. We just want to add to the huge body of knowledge, even if it is just a small portion of it. Of course, some of us are more aware of the application of what we do, and that certainly can be a motivating factor in addition to the curiosity angle.

8 comments:

/*..we tend to want to solve a particular problem, or work in a particular area..*/Right, but it's important not to mix modesty with apparent ignorance, especially in the situation, where connection point are quite obvious. Sometimes such ignorance can be even considered intentional, especially when it covers apparent mistakes and when grant support for easy life is expected.

There is nothing in what I said that even implied anything to do with "ignorance".

Any physicist, or even scientist, can easily see how many parts of what they work on can related to other areas. This is a non-issue and has been realized for as long as the discipline has existed. Working in a "particular area" can mean the area that straddled more than one specific traditional discipline. My work focuses on photocathodes for particle accelerator. That's a very specific area, it it straddled both the field of condensed matter physics, and accelerator physics, two very different field of study in physics.

So stressing that we work in solving a particular problem or a particular area certainly does NOT imply not realizing any interconnection between various disciplines.

Just because mainstream scientists are focused to particular question, they shouldn't hinder or even dishonest other people, who are thinking in more general perspectives. Nobody prohibits scientists to solve them too - but when they ignore them, who is supposed to care about it?

Er... no. When someone can't even figure out basic physics AND decides that he/she has solved the most intricate problems of the universe, then yes, that IS a crackpot.

So far, in all my years in physics AND being on the internet (since 1987), I have NEVER, EVER, been wrong about such crackpots. There has been ZERO instances where a crackpot has made any significant contribution towards the body of knowledge of physics. As an experimentalist, THAT is my empirical evidence. What you claim is something that has no basis as far as having valid evidence.

Sorry, but your crackpottery (and certainly advertising your link) is not welcome on here. You may speculate all you want about "contribution and ability" of crackpots, but the FACT that they have NOT made any contribution to the body of knowledge in physics is something that you have been unable to DENY.

Y'know, considering my stance on crackpottery in this blog (anyone following it for any considerable time would have NOTICED it), it boggles the mind why you are even following it. Do you have to be hit right in your face to actually see it coming?

And talk about not learning from history, how come YOU don't learn from the history that NO CRACKPOT has ever made any significant contribution to physics? It appears that crackpot always insist that we learn about them, but they somehow are immune to the same rule of learning physics. Gimme a break.